Brewing with just picked hops?

I just picked a bunch of 'unknown' hops that a friend had. Another friend picked some hops a few weeks back and promptly froze them.

I want to brew this weekend and now I see everyone is drying their hops and fresh hops give off a 'grassy' flavor. But I also know some brewerys use 'just picked' hops in some of their beers.

If I used the ones I just picked, should I only boil them and not leave them in the primary? (Usually I leave them in until I transfer to the secondary)

any other thoughts/suggestions?

looks like a nice pile of hops. I grow hops and vacum pack it and freeze it as soon as i have it off the plant. so if you are going to breww in a day or so in to the freg in a air tight bag. freeze or dry the others as they will rot fast. it is wet so it has more water in it so wiegh out up to 50% more of the wet hops then you usaly use. now i say that knowing what type i have. trust your nose and taste buds. if you have some known type handy taste some of them and see were yours might fall as to bitternes. good luck

Hop bag for whole leafs.

Rub the hops hard between your hands to test for fragrance,
Eat a hop to test for bitterness.

Compare them to hops of a know variety and IBU.

You should then be able to make a judgement on how and when to use them.

Orfy, I don't have enough experience to gain much of anything using your techniques....


I've read that fresh picked hops can leave grass flavors. Is this true and how do I overcome this issue?

Check out Deschutes Brewing "Hop Trip". It is brewed with fresh hops... lots of em! They've got a blog write up on their website.

Deschutes Brewery » Blog Archive » Hop Trip Harvest & Brewing

Thanks. I knew I had heard/read that someone was doing that.

When using fresh hops:

1. Don't use hops more than 48 hours after picking (unless you freeze them quickly)
2. Use FIVE times as much by weight.
3. Don't not use them for dry hopping. That's where the grassy flavor can happen.
4. Good idea to strain them out of the wort or you'll have a huge pile of trub.

david_42 said:

When using fresh hops:

1. Don't use hops more than 48 hours after picking (unless you freeze them quickly)

Click to expand...

why is that? what if they have been dried?

some of these hops I dried in the oven (turn in on, turn it off, then put hops on flat sheet)
some I dried just by placing them on a table ontop of newpaper.

some I just bagged and put into the freezer.

My remark applies to freshly picked, un-dried hops. Dried hops are no longer considered fresh, as in wet/fresh hopping.

derrrr. makes sense..

3. Don't not use them for dry hopping. That's where the grassy flavor can happen.

Does the grassy flavor go away or at least mellow out with aging?

david_42 said:

When using fresh hops:

1. Don't use hops more than 48 hours after picking (unless you freeze them quickly)
2. Use FIVE times as much by weight.
3. Don't not use them for dry hopping. That's where the grassy flavor can happen.
4. Good idea to strain them out of the wort or you'll have a huge pile of trub.

Click to expand...